New Beginnings (Printer’s Row Romances #1)

Chapter 1

Madeleine

It was in the middle of a drawing, sitting on the stone wall overlooking the lake by night, that I got a tap on my shoulder. I glanced back at where probably the most dazzlingly beautiful woman I’d seen in my life gave me a big, sweet smile, and said something that did not mesh with how cheerful she looked.

“Hi, sorry. Do you know a good place to hide?”

If this was the start to a kidnapping scheme, I didn’t want to be a part. I blinked. “Are you playing hide and seek?”

She laughed awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. “I guess in a way… someone’s looking for me and I really, really can’t afford for him to find me.”

My stomach twisted in an anxious knot. We were down now to two options—either this girl was getting chased by a stalker or an abusive boyfriend or something, or I was about to abet a crime. I slid off the wall, slipping my tablet into my backpack and hoisting it up onto my back. “Someone who’s going to hurt you?” I said, finally, and she shifted, looking away.

“Not physically… I just can’t go back with him.”

God dammit. I wasn’t living with the guilt if I ditched her here and never got the answer whether I’d just left her to get caught by an abusive partner. I glanced to either side before I stepped closer, dropping my voice. “There’s a spot,” I said. “Come with me.”

She broke out into the most brilliant smile, the kind that made me wonder if she was actually in any danger. At least there was no chance she was on the run from the police or something… she looked like she’d never even dreamed of doing something illegal. “Oh my god, thank you,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Just stick close and keep your head down. Change your hairstyle or something. Actually—” I slid my backpack down my arms, setting it on the wall and taking off my hoodie. My heart was beating faster now, every shadow moving in the trees around us suddenly dark, watching eyes, but the adrenaline sharpened my mind to a focused point. “Put this on. Hood up.”

She took it confusedly, wide eyes flicking between me and the hoodie. “Is there… something wrong with my shirt?”

“It’s—ma’am. It’s so you’re harder to spot.”

“Oh! Right. That’s smart.”

Okay, the woman was weird. That didn’t matter right now. I was getting her out of here in one piece. At this point I didn’t care if she’d killed someone and dumped their body in the lake, I was committed. I put my backpack on again as she slipped into my hoodie, zipping it up and tugging the hood up, and I stuck close to her side as I walked her down towards the marina.

“Do you know what direction he’s in?” I whispered, and she nodded her head north, towards the glistening lights of downtown.

“He’d been looking for me back there. I ran this way.”

“He knows you’re alone?”

“Mm.”

“Stick close to me, then. Link arms. He’ll look right past us if he sees two people close together.”

She smiled at me, her face just a shadow under the hood in the depth of night out here in the park, as she slipped her arm under mine. “This is kind of fun,” she said. “It’s like a spy mission.”

I made a sound in my throat as I walked her down the grass, trying to stay natural as I scoped out every person I could see in the park. “Miss… what exactly are you running from right now?”

“Andrew.”

Well, that was helpful. “I can’t tell if this is a serious situation or not.”

She made a noncommittal sound. “I mean, he’s not going to kill me…”

Okay. Serious situation, unserious woman. She looked badly sleep deprived, so maybe she was just delirious… I nodded to the low stone wall by the edge of the water. “It’s lower than it looks on the other side. We sit down there against the wall and we won’t even cast shadows.”

She nodded, but she tensed up before she could say anything, and out of the corner of my vision, I saw her flick her eyes over towards the north path, where a man in dark, tailored clothes came down the path, scanning the surroundings. The sudden, short draw of breath from the woman and the way she tensed tighter around my arm made it all too obvious.

“Ma’am,” I hissed, my voice low. “Don’t draw attention. Act natural and he won’t look.”

“O-okay.”

So she was finally taking this seriously. I led her to a row of bushes and ducked down like we were just sitting there with the view of the marina, and once we were tucked away behind the bushes, I slipped down off the stone wall and sat on the wood planks below, turning and offering a hand back up for her. She took my hand, a little shaky, and she fumbled trying to climb down, slipping a bit—I caught her, a hand on her arm and the other in her hand, and I helped her down onto the ground as pointed footsteps padded over the grass behind us.

“Sapphire!” a man’s voice called. I glanced at the woman, and she nodded, her expression drawn taut.

Sapphire. That was a name and a half. I put a finger to my lips, shifting close enough to her I could feel her body heat from her face.

“Don’t say a word. If he comes down here, just keep looking down and do not speak.”

“Mm.”

Poor girl was so scared… her demeanor really had changed the instant she saw him. I shifted closer to her side, slinging an arm over her shoulders, and I felt every step with the weight of a gunshot in the air as the footsteps headed away—and then down the stairs to the marina platform.

Shit. Had I left some kind of trail? Maybe there was a tracker on her? Was there some way I could play it off—pretend I’d picked up something she’d discarded? I felt around inside my backpack, my heart hammering so hard I thought I’d throw up, settled on my earbud case. It’d have to do if it came down to it.

“He’s coming this way,” the woman—Sapphire, I guess—said from next to me. I squeezed my hand on her arm.

“We’ll be okay. I promise. Just keep your head down and don’t say a word.”

She breathed as deep as I think she could right now, still shallow and shaky, and nodded, tugging her hood lower. I took my hat off—a bit too nice-looking—and shoved it in my backpack, ruffling my hair and sitting in a crass posture just as a shadow moved next to us and I saw the man coming our way, footsteps creaking over the wood.

“Pardon me,” he said, stopping next to me, and I glanced up in his general direction, giving him a dirty look.

“What do you want, dickhead? Keep it quiet, my boyfriend’s hungover and I’m sick of your shit already.”

He didn’t seem fazed. There was an ominously imposing feel to him right now like this, a dark shadow towering over us, pale light refracting off his eyes and not much else. “I’m looking for someone. Young woman, long dark hair, about this tall, wearing a pink top—”

“Yeah, saw her fucking your mom.”

“Do you know where I’d find someone like that?”

I raked my hand back through my hair. “You don’t take a hint, huh? Fine, yeah, I don’t know. Been sitting down here for a minute and I didn’t see anyone. Go ask around at the fountain or something, I don’t know, man.”

He knelt, and panic spiked up hoping Sapphire was keeping her hood low enough, but he kept his gaze on me, too-pale blue eyes staring right through me. He handed me a business card—a nice, laminated one, too. Nothing in this world could have prepared me for what it said.

Andrew Vaughn as the name, perfectly normal. Phone number with a Chicago area code, perfectly normal. Occupation? Fucking Butler. Those still existed?

“Call me if you see anyone matching the description or hear anything. Her name’s Sapphire. Her family’s worried about her.”

“Uh, sure thing, dude,” I said, taking the business card. “There’s still butlers in this day and age? Don’t you have to go tend to a mysterious manor or some shit?”

He smiled, standing up. “I appreciate your help.”

And it worked—he turned and walked away, heading back for the stairs. I watched him go and gave it a full minute just to be damn well sure before I tucked the card away, relaxing, sinking back against the wall. Sapphire hung her head, breathing out a long, slow breath.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” she said, tugging her hood back up and looking at me with the sweetest smile, although that hard-edged fear still stained the look. I shrugged, brushing my hair out and tugging my hat back on.

“Get chased through the park by butlers often?”

“Not through the park very often, no. Normally it’s been across the house or something.”

I stared at her for the longest time, only now breathing normally enough to stop and take her in. She really was stunningly gorgeous, all perfectly defined features and warm brown eyes, dark hair that fell in long, straight curtains to her chest, perfect smooth complexion and everything. Beautiful kind of in the way that took money.

“So… what’s the story?” I said. “Hear your family’s worried about you. Sent a butler after you?”

“Yeah, seems like it.”

Ugh. She sure picked up social cues well. “You from the Rockefellers or something?”

She laughed, giving my shoulder a playful shove. “C’mon, this isn’t the time for jokes. I really owe you, though. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there. What’s your name?”

Okay, she didn’t want to talk about it. My mind ran wild with speculation—runaway daughter or something, rebelling against her family, maybe they gave her a BMW instead of a Mercedes so she ran away from home, I didn’t know.

Still, that fear in her eyes had been genuine.

“Madeleine,” I said. “And you’re Sapphire, I’m assuming.”

She softened, relaxing back against the wall. “Madeleine is a beautiful name,” she said. “Seems right for a beautiful soul. I could tell you were really worried what would happen if you helped me.”

“Oh, yeah? Looked like I was getting cold feet?”

She pursed her lips, seeming to think it over. “Your eyes. They were moving around a lot, glancing at all different kinds of things, but I could tell when you made the decision to help, because you locked in. Eyes straight ahead, one thing at a time. So… I think I knew I was safe when I saw that.”

I— I’d never noticed I did that myself. I guess now that she mentioned it… I suddenly felt weirdly embarrassed, shy even, and I scratched my head. “Ah… got me all figured out. Are you going to be safe from here?”

“Well, probably not. I can’t just steal your hoodie, for one, so I’ll have to return it, and then Andrew probably has people watching out for me in my regular clothes now…”

This poor girl was so calm and so stressed out at the same time. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

“I have a bit of money. I’ll just check into a hotel.”

“I’ll walk you to one. I’d never be able to live with myself if I let you wander off into the night to get grabbed by a creepy butler.”

She sighed sadly, looking up at the sky, thick with streaky gray clouds. “Andrew’s not really creepy… just does what he’s supposed to do.” But she smiled, suddenly as anything, with a warm look in her eyes. “You’re a really good person, Madeleine. I appreciate the help.”

“Ah, y’know. I like hotels. Let me check out the view from your room and we’ll call it even.”

She laughed, standing up. “It’s a deal. Any hotel recommendations?”

“There’s a Hilton close by.” I stood up with her, brushing the dirt and junk off my pants. “I’ve got a Hilton membership, we can book it under my name so nobody looking for you will find it and I’ll get the rewards points as my cream off the top.”

She gave me a tired smile—the kind of smile you had coming down from the race of a lifetime. The fear of a lifetime. “It’s nice to know there are people like you in this world, too.”

I looked away. “I’m just doing it for the rewards points. You should do something with your hair. It’s going to look suspicious if you’re walking around with your hood up. Pin your hair up or something and you can wear my hat, should be a good enough cover in low light. Actually—maybe braid it.”

She laughed lightly. “Can you do it? I don’t know how to braid my hair.”

Ah, what the hell. Sapphire was in my charge now. I was taking this seriously.

I was going to look back on this like a fever dream tomorrow.